Junk Fisherman

I know it's me but I have not done well with Sleepers on smallies. Largemouth yes, smallies no. And these other guys hit it about the weight.

Depends on the time and place. I would bet there are quite a few locals at certain times of the year on their home water that would dominate a tournament against the pros. But over the course of a season on the variety of waters that the pros fish, I don't think any average Joe would dominate the pros.

In the spring and then sometime throughout the year for fluorocarbon. But it also depends on the memory of the line. I have a spinning reel spooled with 7 lb Gamma Touch that I have used heavily since March and it is still fine. Monofilament is so cheap that I will do it more often. I only replace braid when it starts getting low on the spool due to backlash/wind knot messes. When I fished more tournaments I did it more often but that was more for my own piece of mind.

Surprised no one has said a Senko.

I love my Curado 70 mgl but I've only thrown dropshots with it. It's great for that.

If I lived where you do I would be fishing Lake Geneva and Door County as much as possible. The next month should be great in both of those places!

That sucks Tc. Hope things settle down for you. I had a rough summer with pneumonia in June and Covid in August which cost me around a month of the summer. But since the first week of August, I've been out every Saturday or Sunday for 9-10 hours. I've had a real good stretch of favorable winds for Lake Michigan when I wanted to get out and thankfully the fish cooperated.

I go longer- more like 10'. I think it depends on the clarity of the water. In the ultra clear Great Lakes that I fish, I go with the lightest fluorocarbon I can get away with. For darker water I'll go with mono without hesitation but usually I just stick with the flouro. I don't think it matters much in stained water.

The Flatworm works better than the variety of other dropshot baits that I use. The X-Zone Slammers are the 2nd most productive bait I use. Zoom Dropshot Worms, Erie Darter Jrs, Baby Z Toos, Yammy Cut Tail worms, Z Man Trick Shots and 3" Senkos are the other baits I dropshot. I have not tried the other Max Scent baits other than the Flatworm.

Gamma Touch in 7 lb is much more manageable than Tatsu in 8 lb. I haven’t been too impressed with Tastu. It is strong and abrasion -resistant but too kinky.

It works better than my other standard dropshot baits. X-Zone finesse Slammers are pretty good as well.

My Dad would always comment on whether the cows were feeding or laying down as we drove to the lake.

Probably 75% of the big smallmouth I have caught this year are either on a dropshot with a #1 Gammy hook or a Ned rig with a #2 hook. I don't even consider those small hooks since I get such solid hookups. It's not even something I think about. In terms of the OP's question, it sounds like you have just gotten unlucky recently. Big smallmouth are hard to land. I find that most of the time when I lose a big fish it is because I am not patient enough. Granted, I am fishing Lake Michigan and have deep water to just let the fish tire itself out so now I have learned to give the fish plenty of time before netting. You know a big fish is going to make a couple runs so I don't try to to land it until it is ready. If you find out that it is something technical, please post what you find out.

Me too. That is why I get only 1 day on the weekend.

I like to get out at daylight and then fish till 3 or so if I am fishing locally on the weekends. I would fish longer if it wasn't for getting home to the family. So 9-10 hours is the norm. If I am on a multi-day trip I will often fish a shorter amount of time (6-7 hours) just to conserve energy especially if the bite isn't that great on that day.

Smallmouth are very special to me! ?

That spot sounds ideal especially when the wind is blowing on it. And if it's cloudy and all of sudden the sun comes out, game on!

I put up with the hassle of leaders because the benefits of a braid/fluoro combo for some presentations are worth it.

Nice video. So straight fluoro? Interesting. I use YGK's sinking braid to a 6 lb leader and it works for me but I hardly set the hook at all. Just apply pressure back and that little Gammy hook sticks 'em every time.

Very nice video. I really like the point that moving smallies are following baitfish while smallies feeding on gobies and crawfish are more likely to stay in one area. This definitely matches my experience. On a side note BASS Times had an article a year or so ago that had Feider, Gustafsson, and some other BASS smallie guys discuss myths of smallmouth. It was a great article and some of the same points were discussed in this video.

Daiwa Steez 761 MML + Daiwa Tatula 3000 YGK Sol 14 lb braid + 6 Gamma Edge leader

I have a few extra rods that I keep as backups but for the most part I don't have any rods that do not get any use throughout the course of the season. I have sold rods before and have never regretted selling any of them. It is usually an excuse to buy something new which is an upgrade over what I sold. Plus, I carry a dozen or so combos so I always have a rig that can accommodate what I want to use. I've never sold something and then needed it. I say thin the herd and buy some new equipment.

Great job. Sounds like fun. I've only caught a couple on a jerkbait. It's definitely a hole in my arsenal. My favorite way to catch them is on a tube. Love setting the hook and feeling the weight and knowing you have a 4lber+.

The only problems I've had with fluoro and manageability have been when I tried 10 lb on a spinning reel. I do replace the line after a couple months. I've had 7 lb Gamma Touch on a spinning reel since March and have used it heavily and it was casting fine yesterday. If someone is having problems with fluoro I would look at the quality of line you are using, how long you are using it, how you are putting on a spinning reel, and are you overfilling a spinning reel. I've been using fluoro for years and have virtually no issues anymore.

That happened to a guy in my club too. He got a new hull as well.